1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods that are used to distribute and manifest content such as advertising content received via the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW). More particularly, the present invention relates to the dynamic manifestation of advertising content within a window object maintained within a WWW browser environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) have significantly impacted the way people receive information, purchase goods and services, and generally communicate. The Internet and WWW have facilitated whole content delivery industries that provide up-to-the-minute delivery (and sale) of information such as news, weather, sports scores, horoscopes, stock and securities information, advertising, etc. Many companies have recognized the great "gold-rush" nature of the Internet and have been quick to establish web-sites where people (a.k.a. "network surfers") can visit to purchase books online, to receive specialized content such as investment and other reports, and to subscribe to content delivery services such as "electronic" newspapers and magazines. Despite the widespread use and acceptance of the Internet and the WWW, many industry analysts and insiders insist that our society has only begun to realize the advantages of publicly accessible network technologies and predict that our lives will only be further impacted by increased uses of the "Net."
Many companies have been quick to adopt the Internet and WWW as fertile ground to sell goods and services to network users. For example, many companies place "banner advertisements" on web pages to entice network users to purchase related goods and services. In many cases, such banner ads are simple rectangular screen objects (e.g., one that has dimensions of 468 picture elements (pixelg) by 60 pixels as defined by the IAB banner ad standards) that contain text or graphics and, possibly, animated graphics that are loaded or pushed to a network user's web browser for loading and static display thereby. Additionally, JAVA based banner ads have been used to enhance advertising content. Once loaded, however, such advertising banners will appear on a network user's screen and, in particular, within a content manifestation environment maintained by a running WWW browser software package so long as the user remains on or at a particular web site. And, since banner ads are loaded as screen objects within a web site window, they remain static until either a now web site is loaded or a browser re-load/refresh operation occurs at the behest of the network user.
Banner ads often are associated with hypertext links that allow a network user to surf to an advertiser's or sponsor's web site to receive additional information about advertised goods and services. For example, many online brokerages houses (e.g., www.etrade.com) sponsor banner ads such as at YAHOO.COM's financial web site to entice network users and, especially, those interested in stocks, bonds, and securities to surf to a particular web site to become online securities traders (and customers). Despite their static nature, banner ads have proven to be quite effective at routing traffic to advertiser's web sites to promote the sale of goods and services online. In fact, banner ads as advertising and marketing tools have driven wide use and development of the Internet and WWW as a place for commerce. In fact, advertising via banner ads continues to be one of very few profitable ways to entice and engage in electronic commerce.
Despite their widespread use as tools to drive electronic commerce on the Internet and WWW, banner ads and other similar advertising and marketing mechanisms are not without their problems. For example, in addition to the fact that banner ads are statically displayed once loaded by a web browser, banner ads and other similar marketing tools do not allow different and dynamic marketing content to be displayed within a browser window. That is, a banner ad usually contains mere graphic image(s) (e.g., one that may contain animated graphics) which is associated with a single hypertext link ("hyperlink"). Such a banner ad cannot dynamically display content such as marketing and advertising content that is to be received via a network connection after an initial container web site page load.
Furthermore, in addition to the technical infirmities associated with modern banner ads, the same do not facilitate dynamic, rich advertising that network users have become used to in other media forums and which can deliver the most "bang for the buck" in terms of providing the highest possible sales return related to a particular marketing and promotion investment. For example, current banner ads do not come close to the richness of television or radio advertisements that allow full motion video, audio, etc. Accordingly, although network bandwidth capabilities to not currently allow the push of content like television ads, that same bandwidth is not being effectively deployed to facilitate richer, more effective network advertising.
Thus, there exists a need to provide new and improved systems and methods to facilitate dynamic display of advertising and marketing content. Such systems and methods must allow effective and efficient deployment of advertising banners and corresponding content streams without requiring Internet and WWW infrastructures and standards to change. And, to be viable, network users must be able to receive new and improved advertising and marketing content that facilitate greater sales in relation to spent advertising dollars.